(JED/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt from JED’s 2004 report on the “State of Press Freedom in Central Africa”: As part of celebrations marking the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, JED announces the publication of its 2004 Report on the “State of Press Freedom in Central Africa” Kinshasa, Grand Hotel, […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt from JED’s 2004 report on the “State of Press Freedom in Central Africa”:
As part of celebrations marking the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, JED announces the publication of its 2004 Report on the “State of Press Freedom in Central Africa”
Kinshasa, Grand Hotel, 9 December 2004
Report Summary
1. Introduction
On 10 December 2004, the international community marks the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This international legal instrument, which was adopted in 1948 (three years after the end of the Second World War), has stood the test of time. When reading the UDHR today, one is struck by the impression that it was written only yesterday.
Each year since Journaliste en danger’s (JED) creation in 1998, the organisation has chosen the UDHR’s anniversary date to publish its annual report on the state of press freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). JED’s work is based on Article 19 of the UDHR, which guarantees freedom of opinion and expression regardless of frontiers.
This year’s report, the seventh since JED’s creation, includes a title change. As of now, our annual report will be entitled, “The State of Press Freedom in Central Africa”. In May 2003, at its meeting in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, the Central African Media Organisation (Organisation des Médias d’Afrique Centrale OMAC) and Association of Central African Newspaper Publishers (Association des Editeurs des Journaux d’Afrique Centrale) asked JED to extend its press freedom mandate to eight other member countries of the organisations. These include Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Rwanda and Chad.
In the DRC, JED’s national network has been reinforced over the years to the point where the organisation can today reasonably claim to cover 95 percent of press freedom attacks in the country. With regards to the Central African network, however, JED is only in its first year of activities. Nonetheless, initial results hold promise for the future. We base this optimistic outlook on the fact that in a number of countries, including the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo and Gabon, JED has become the premiere source of information, even for partner organisations who have more experience in the region.
The one country where the network has experienced serious operational difficulties is Rwanda. All of the local correspondents who were recruited for press freedom monitoring work in the country have since declined to take on their positions, before their work even got underway. This speaks volumes about the climate of fear and poor press freedom situation that reigns in the country.
The complete French-language report will be available shortly on JED’s website: http://www.jed-congo.org/list_rapport.php
